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Aberrant: Phoenix Rising - Chapter 2: Wish You Were Here


jameson (ST)

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Doug forwards Gregory's statements to everyone with the following,

*I think we might as well anounce ourselves. Either we're lost, or there are abbies around here somewhere. Either way, they probably know and might tell us.*

Doug takes a final look around and starts to decend.

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Listening to Doug's communication, Gregory stays hidden.

He sends back to Doug *I will hide from guards and their kind, until we know they are friendly. I will follow you, and continue to scout around the area. If caught, I will say I am lost and looking for my friends.

Greg waits for the other to make their appearance.

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Adam gets the notice to step up and say something, so with a glance and a smile to Buzz, he says, "Stick behind me, old-timer. Just in case whoever it is decides to open fire." Then he'll head off towards where the Gregory went, staying alert for trouble but not being openly hostile. When either they stick up, or where the 'dog' appeared, he'll start calling out. "Hello? I know you're out here. We just want to talk."

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Raider hangs on enjoying the view, and making note of interesting places he'd like to check out later like that baren island just off the coast. Never know what you might scavenge from deserted preburn ruins.

He also looks for places of current habitation, and if Courier relays the info to him about the hidden place and the guards, he will 'sky dive' back down to were the others are. He will make one hand solid for gravity to take effect until he gets closer to the ground. Once he gets close he will go completely incorporeal and float easily the rest of the way down. At which point he will flow through the ground until he gets up there to scout out the blind.

OR, If Courier wants to come along he will just attune him and let him fly the two of them down.

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Buzz growls in a low voice "I ain't no damn China doll! I been through a hell of a lot worse than this. Why I remember back in 63 we had our first Aberrant attack on the town. I got 2 of them that day! 'Couse we had a catapult rigged that threw cars. Come to think of it, we hit two that day, but I don't think it hurt 'em..." he trails off, lost in memory, but stands behind Adam.

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As Courier and Raider slip down through the trees toward Gregory Adam and Buzz move forward through the forest until they see the blind,

Quote:
"Hello? I know you're out here. We just want to talk."

The two men bolt upright their guns at the ready, "What the hell? Who are you?" The man with the rifle says, "I don't recognize you, who are you and what are you doing here? You aint aberrants are ya?"

Gregory flattens himself aganist the grounf and slides under some low bushes, he should be virtually ivisible at this point but is still able to get up and follow the group as need be.

Suddenly the brnches in the trees above begin to rattle as Courier drifts down through the forest conopy, the ghostly form of Raider is visible, though only bearly so, at his side. The man with the crossbow spins, aiming his weapon toward Courier, "Crap!" he shouts seeing the two of them.

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This looks like it end badly, maybe. Gregory quietly draws his small pistol from his pant's pocket, and slides closer to the doorway leading into the back of the blind.

Gregory hopes that things don't go badly. He doesn't want to sneak into the blind and put a gun to their heads. If he did that, his presence would be discovered.

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Originally Posted By: Dr. Raphael Bradford
Suddenly the brnches in the trees above begin to rattle as Courier drifts down through the forest conopy, the ghostly form of Raider is visible, though only bearly so, at his side. The man with the crossbow spins, aiming his weapon toward Courier, "Crap!" he shouts seeing the two of them.
Courier yells,

"Hold your fire!"

And prepares to use flight to dodge.
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"See back then we used to keep a big score board powered by a windmill, showin' them Aberrants just how many we greased...Whoah!" Buzz suddenly realizes there are men with weapons pointed at them.

"Whoah, at ease boys! Just take it easy, we ain't here for any trouble. Just lookin' for a friend who might need some help. Just take it easy there boys. That's right, put them weapons down, we ain't here to hurt nobody."

Buzz's voice changes from slightly commanding to soothing, trying to get the men cool down a bit and not be too trigger happy.

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Originally Posted By: Dr. Raphael Bradford
The two men bolt upright their guns at the ready, "What the hell? Who are you?" The man with the rifle says, "I don't recognize you, who are you and what are you doing here? You aint aberrants are ya?"
"Calm down! Do I look like a ..." Adam trails off, considers the color of his eyes and the total lack of hair, and quickly changes tack. "I told you, we're just here to talk. Either we're lost, or there's an Abby nest around here where one of our friends is captured. Can you help us?" He smiles, doing his best to look disarming, and holds his hands out away from his sides, showing that he's unarmed.
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The two men lower their weapons slightly at Buzzs words and Adam's assurances that they mean no harm. Raider, not taking any chances attunes Courier shunting the greater portion of the other man's mass into the aether.

"Where are you from?" The man with the rifle asks, "We know of no aberrant hives but we are always wary of those who display the powers of the corrupted."

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Buzz nods, off to a decent start at least.

"Well now...that's better. An' I don't fault ya' for bein' on alert now boys. We're from Newborough, we're lookin' for a friend of ours, she might be in a bit of trouble. She's pretty resourceful though. Anyway, we think she may be 'round here. Though...we also could be a bit lost.

"You seen her? She's real pretty, kinda' Spanish lookin' but real long blond hair. She's maybe 23? She might ha' been taken by them folk you were talkin' 'bout." He adds with just a touch of ominousness.

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(Only to Buzz) *Well put...*

(Rotated to everyone else) *Wow the old guy has a silver tongue. How do you supose he does it?*

(Vague images of Doug learning what Buzz does then Courier becoming a master salesman briefly float by... then Doug shifts his attention back to looking for KB)

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Buzz seemed content that he was getting results, even seeming to drift off slightly as Adam offers some input.

"Oh! Right, well yeah as the crow flies, we're from Massachusetts, home of the...Red Socks. Though we don't wear them no more, if ya' get my meaning. The Yankees took 'em all.

"So where is here though? Like I said we're a bit lost. We heard from her just a bit ago, she has a...phone."

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The two men confer once more and the again the man with the rifle replies, "Not much sure what you're talkin' 'bout, but then we don't have many old folks around who remember well anymore. We're coming down, we'll take you to our village and you can talk to Bob maybe he can help you ..." With that the two men begin to clamber down and lead the group off toward their village.

After a 40 minute walk you arrive outside of a small community. The village is walled in with sections of piled debris, wooden stockade, and old chain link fencing which was been trippled up to compensate for it's poor condition. Once inside you see how poor the community is, with most of the inhabitants wearing clothing that is handmade from remnants of other items and others moving about without shoes or in clothing which is more holes and hides than anything else.

You are guided toward a ramshackle building near the center of the village and asked to wait while they fetch "Bob".

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Courier mentally takes note of the village's condition and notes trading opportunities.

Doug rotates over the link,

*Just like home. I grew up in a place like this. So did KB for that matter. And speaking of KB, can any of you do that 'Node Ping' trick?*

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At first, Gregory trails the group, remaining camoflaged. After 30 minutes of travelling, he quietly rejoins the party. He inserts himself in the rear, ready to camoflage and hide at the first sign of danger.

The town was typical for its kind. Gregory had travelled through villiages like this before. The people were usually suspicious of strangers, and very superstitious. They did not have the bigness or 'modermity' of Newborough. In many ways, the people here, were more like him, than the people in the big towns.

Hearing the term 'Node Ping' brought back a memory from six moons earlier. A kind, and old aberrant showed him a trick where he could detect others like him. He had also shown him how to hide himself from detection.

*I have done it once or twice before...I'm not really good at it. They have to be close for me to find them.

Gregory stops and concentrates on finding energies similar to the one inside him. The 'thingy' in his brain searched the surrounding area for similar 'waves'.

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A short time later and older man walks into the room and takes a seat at a dingy table, "Please, sit, are you hungry? We do not have much but our hospitatlity will not suffer for it.

"The two men who lead you hear said that you have been asking after you lost freind, I will try and answer any questions you have but similarly I may have some of my own.

"The first of which is, how is it that you display powers like the aberrants but are not twisted and mutated as they are?"

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Adam grins at that. "Some people learn how to control it. Other people learn how to be controlled by it, and they end looking like tentacled freaks. Someone told me that the more often you go balls-to-the-wall with your powers, the more likely you are to go nuts." His grin widens a little bit. "I make a point not to test that idea."

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Gregory listens to the old man. He understands the fear these people feel towards the 'diseased ones'. At the moment, Gregory is more interested in the layout of the town and wishes to look around some more. He communicates to Courier over the link:

*I sensed something earlier, and want to check it out. Don't tell the old man that I might have sensed another like us.

,,

For now, Gregory will stay and listen. He will attempt to discern if the old man is lying about what he says.

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Buzz shares a smile with Bob the elder, it takes real grit to last long in this world, and someone like Bob could appreciate Buzz a bit more.

"Well..." begins Buzz he figures he'll get a captive audience, towns like these like elders. "Back in the days before the Burn, they weren't call Abberants, not the good ones, no. They called 'em Novas, and they were like stars come to Earth to live with us. They were beautiful, powerful, and believe it or not, they were good. With their help, their wisdom, they made the world into the stuff a' dreams. Ones like Caestus Pax, Antaeus, Skew and the sainted Slider. It was the Aberrants, the tainted ones that couldn't hold their moxy in. They went plum crazy. The Novas fought 'em all the time, but in the end it was the damn Chinese that said to Hell with it, and burned us all. I was there." Buzz stops, the story is familiar to him, he told it often enough back in Newborough, but now it seemed he could remember it so much clearer, like it was yesterday, and he was wetting himself in fear all over again when he actually saw Novas fighting Aberrants over Boston.

"But...me, I only became what I am just a bit ago, lived most of my life like you. But we ain't the tainted ones. No sir. I put my pants on one leg at a time like you, and like to dip my bread in the stew to soften it up a bit. Me and my friends ain't gonna corrupt you good folk. If you give us the chance to find our friend, why...we'll help you, help you reclaim a little bit o' that glory we lost so long ago."

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The mans jaw hangs agape a look of shock plain as day, "You mean to tell me that aberrants aren't born that way? And that you are all ... what was the word? ... novas?

"Where is this place from which you come, this "Newborough"? If you have power like those of the aberrants but are sane and righetous like humans I cannot imagine that it would not be a paradise unseen since the world was burned."

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"Newborough? It's a lovely city near where Boston used to be. It's got about ten thousand people - and maybe two dozen novas." Adam shrugs. "Some of us are better off. My powers, I can get from place to place quickly, and I can beat the crap out of most Abbies, but you really one of the novas like our buddy Boothe. He's smart, like super-smart, and he's fixing stuff all the time." Adam grins and leans back (carefully) against a wall. "Ever taken a ride in a Jeep? Those things are cool."

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Doug says,

“Thank you for your hospitality sir, you are a kind host and we will try to be kind guests.”

He then goes on to comment,

"Luck or destiny or whatever plays a big part of it. Some people erupt and become power controlling novas, others become aberrants right then and there. I'm not sure anyone knows why. And yeah, some kids are born as abbies. I abbies do have abby kids and the reason why is easy; they kill the ones that aren't."

"As for paradise... I don't know. Life is hard and dangerous. Adam here killed an abby a couple of days ago that was attacking the town, that’s a dangerous job. Personally I make my living picking up heavy things and flying them from one settlement to another. Powers Help. They help a lot. But they aren’t a magic wand. And having powers and a community makes us a bigger target.”

(Doug makes an attempt to contract KB… then checks the link with Jimmy to see if there’s interference, then rotates it.)

Originally Posted By: Gregory
*I sensed something earlier, and want to check it out. Don't tell the old man that I might have sensed another like us.
*Got that.*
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Buzz smiled, he knew the affect he could have on others now, and while he didn't like to abuse it, he did like showing people the light now and then.

"That's right Bob, we ain't born that way. Like any man we gotta make a choice, and some can't seem to make the right one. They throw away their humanity for more power." Buzz turns a bit more serious now. "So what I'm sayin' Bob, is if you see one o' your folk start to change, embrace 'em. Keep 'em mindful o' who they are and where they come from. It's when they get isolated that they spurn their own mother and become tainted." He lightens up again as he switches topics.

"Newborough is a good town, Northeast on the continent, not quite sure how far it is from here. We can take you to it, make neighbors of you all. An' we can also help ya'll here, make the winters easier to take."

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Gregory steps foreward and decides to ask Bob some questions.

"Good sir, I was wondering if you might have seen an aberrant lately? Maybe another like us? You must have come into contact with some others recently."

Gregory presses the questioning "A town doesn't have armed guards unless they are worried about attacks? Who are you afraid of? If you were that afraid of those from the outside, your guards should have opened fire on us. I'm just curious why you even allowed us into the town? If is is just suspicion, I understand, but it seems that there is more here than what you are showing us. Why not just be honest with us, so we can find a way to help each other."

,,
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Bob looks a bit starteled by Gregory's sudden outburst, almost like he hadn't seen the boy there. He pauses thinking for a moment before answering, "Gaurds? I think you mean Jay and Fred. In which case you have things all wrong they aren't gaurds at all, they're hunters. The two of them were hoping to catch a deer or maybe a moose for the town to feed on.

"We don't have much and the land here isn't very good for crops so we have to susbist off the land as much as we can, we hunt deer, moose, bears, and fowl and gather berries and such. We trade with some of the towns to the south for their fish, and they take our skins and herbs.

"As for the town we have the walls to keep predators out and our few animals within. We do have some gaurds, volenteers mostly, because you never know when an aberrant might show up. We see very little of them however I hear that you need to go much further south before they become a real problem."

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Gregory listens to what the man says, but is a little perplexed at not getting the answers he was hoping. He still feels the man is not being totally truthful, but will hold off on the questioning for now.

"I thank you for your answers sir. I was being curious, and wondering about many things. I mean no offense to you."

Gregory moves back toward the back of the party, before turning to the man again. "Excuse me sir, but might there be a bathroom?"

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Originally Posted By: Mr Fox
Raider will squeeze Courier's shoulder and think to him, "Ask them what the nearest preburn major city was. I'm curious to find out where we are."
Courier responds,

*I'm starting to think this is a waste of time. I should be out there, aimlessly flying around looking for KB. :Sigh: Fine.*

Doug says,

"Um, I have to say I'm still not clear on where we are. What was the name of the nearest big, pre-burn city?"
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